Scientists may be closer to understanding how the brain can function differently in people with bipolar disorder. In a new study, researchers say they have found evidence that certain brain cells trigger inflammation more easily in those with BPD, and that these rebellious cells may be linked to decreased neural activity that can be harmful to our mental health. The evidence, Published on Thursday in Stem Cell Reports, it may suggest a new way to treat bipolar disorder someday, although more research is still needed.
Scientists have been studying the connection between inflammation and mental illness for some time, including bipolar disorder. People with bipolar disorder experience uncontrollable mood swings that can leave them severely depressed in a moment and manic the next. It is known that people with bipolar disorder are more likely to have other diseases associated with chronic inflammation, such as hypertension and diabetes. Some studies have also shown that patients with bipolar disorder may have higher levels of proteins that incite the body to become inflamed, especially when they are in the middle of a manic episode. These proteins include interleukin 6 (IL-6), which performs many functions in the body, such as guiding the body’s acute response to infection.
In their new study, researchers at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies, University of California, San Diego, and the Paris Institute of Psychiatry and Neuroscience, decided to examine a specific type of brain cell, the astrocyte. These are star-shaped cells in the brain that perform a number of important functions that help maintain neurons. One of these functions includes being part of the chain of command that triggers inflammation in the brain and the surrounding nervous system, which aims to help the brain respond to injuries or infections. The researchers theorized that this usually A useful process can go wrong in people with bipolar disorder, and astrocytes can play a part in this dysfunctional inflammation.
“Due to a growing understanding of the role of neuroinflammation in psychiatric disorders, we asked whether altered inflammation-induced signaling in astrocytes was associated with bipolar disorder,” said study author Fred Gage, president of the Salk Institute for Biological Studies, in an e -mail.
Gage and his team used rod derived cells of six people with bipolar disorder, as well as four controls without bipolar disorder, they developed into astrocytes that were studied in the laboratory. (They figured out how to create these cells from previous search.) Compared to the control group, the astrocytes of patients with bipolar disorder were noticeably different. The cells had greater expression of their IL-6 gene and, as a result, secreted more IL-6 than the control astrocytes. When they exposed neurons to these astrocytes, the team saw reduced levels of neural activity, compared to the control astrocytes. And when the researchers introduced an antibody that suppressed IL-6 into the mix, the neurons were less harmed by astrocytes, further implicating IL-6. Finally, the blood of patients with bipolar disorder also contained more IL-6 than controls.
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“Our study suggests that the normal function of astrocytes is affected in the brains of patients with bipolar disorder, contributing to neuroinflammation,” said co-author Renata Santos, a researcher at the Salk Institute and the Paris Institute of Psychiatry and Neuroscience.
The findings are certainly intriguing, but the researchers caution that there is still a long way to go before we can confirm a clear causal link between deficient astrocytes, IL-6 and bipolar disorder, let alone something that could lead to significant new treatments. Astrocytes cultured in the laboratory may differ from those found in our brain in important ways, for example. (One difference is that these cells are less mature.) And since the brain is very complicated, there are probably other aspects of our biology, including the brain, that can play an important role. role in the cause of bipolar disorder.
“Our findings elucidate aspects of the under-studied role of astrocytes in neuroinflammation in psychiatric disorders, with relevance to altered IL-6 and inflammatory signaling in astrocytes of patients with bipolar disorder,” said lead author Krishna Vadodaria, associate researcher at the Salk Institute.
If researchers are discovering anything here, it is possible that astrocytes could not only help provide more information about bipolar disorder, but other mental illnesses linked to inflammation, such as schizophrenia, according to study author Carol Marchetto, now anthropology researcher at the University of California, San Diego. And they hope their work will help spur future research on astrocytes and inflammation – research that could lead to the development of treatments that can reverse the harmful body changes seen in people with bipolar disorder and similar conditions.